Variations on a theme
by Elin B
Summary: Four short interconnected pieces in which Franky does not save Robin from drowning. Although he'd like to. Light Franky/Robin, set post-Thriller Bark.
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This originally came from a request on an anonymous fic thread, though it failed in compliance to the stated terms. The requester's preference was for a story in which Franky saved Robin from drowning, which might make a great fic in someone else's hands (maybe it already has!) but only gave me an idea for a four-parter in which he'd _like_ to do that.

This fic has been betaed by Tonko and is very much the better for it. Any remaining mistakes are my responsibility alone. Constructive criticism and other feedback is very welcome.

SPOILERS/SETTING: Post-Thriller Bark

DISCLAIMER: The characters and situations of One Piece were created and are owned by Eiichiro Oda. They are used here without permission. This fanfic was written for entertainment purposes only and is not to be used for profit in any way.

Variations on a theme

A One Piece fic by Elin B

1.

He wasn't the type to worry and fret about dangers, Franky figured. He was more of a cool and relaxed kind of guy. If there were times when he might look thoughtfully down at the waves beneath them, then glance at a certain dark-haired and female member of the crew - well, surely there wasn't anything odd about that. Surely it was only normal to have such thoughts occasionally, when living on a ship in which almost half the small crew were Devil Fruit users. Reindeer-Bro and Strawhat would remind you of the danger often enough, as they fell in fairly often, especially Luffy. And Franky made sure to cast thoughtful looks their way too, as a good crewmate should. As for Brook, he was so damn super-light he could run upon the water, so Franky supposed he'd only be in danger if he were distracted enough to forget this. Then again, maybe that wasn't all that unlikely.

Franky had always been a good swimmer, growing up, and when he'd rebuilt and reshaped himself into a cyborg, he'd made sure to put in small air pockets and not use too heavy metals and alloys. These precautions made him light enough to stay buoyant, while his new power augmented his swimming speed. Still, Franky didn't think he was really the best swimmer among the Strawhats – that was probably Eyebrow-Bro. And there were some attacks he couldn't do in the water, or at least not without a really thorough maintenance afterwards, as they'd let too much water in among sensitive materials and circuits. Unless he could come up with something new to change that…

Which maybe he oughta do. After all, you could never trust the sea, particularly not on the Grand Line. Even someone like, say, Nico Robin, who had such a helpful and versatile devil fruit power and a great presence of mind at almost all times – even someone like her was still only human, and might get distracted at the wrong time some day. So it only made sense if Franky would sometimes muse and calculate, thinking up ways he could be even faster, more functional, and more reliable in the water.

It wasn't like he was still a teenaged boy with a crush, daydreaming about some girl being in distress and him being the one to rescue her, thus making sure she'd look at him with gratitude and love, realising he was the one for her… nah, wasn't like he was a moron like that any more. Hell no! And, uh… well, possibly it wouldn't be too terrible holding Robin real nice and close like that, with her heart beating against his and maybe her arms around his neck (as long as she didn't try grabbing somewhere painful…) He remembered when she'd saved them both back on Thriller Bark, gliding down on huge wings made out of hands as if she was an angel or something. After all, he'd only be repaying the favour a li'l bit…

But that wasn't it! Not more than maybe a little part of it. And of course he wasn't dumb enough to pay attention to some scary, persistent nightmares of his where her face was all blue and cold and she wouldn't stir no matter what… no way. That kind of paranoia would be totally unsuper.

No, it was just that it was an interesting technical question, trying to figure out the fastest, safest and most cost-effective way of saving someone from drowning at sea (and hopefully the most impressive way, too). Plus an entirely normal comradely concern.

Really. Nothing more than that.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

"Of course, this is just a prototype," Franky told the three onlookers around him, grinning widely. "You know? Just a _teeny tiny_ way to start things." He'd actually only intended to show this and the blueprints to Usopp at this point, but he wasn't displeased with the attention from Chopper and Brook as well, who'd turned up looking curious. As long as the whole crew didn't wind up here…

"It's a… safety net?" asked Usopp, looking down at the net jutting out from the hull a few meters below the railing. It had a length of four meters and a width of two, nothing more. But as Franky had said, it was just a small prototype. The framing was of light beech, not Adam wood. It was held up by two steel arms that led inside the hull, both connected by numerous ball bearings to the lever Franky was holding.

"Naah! Those kinds of things are for over-cautious guys who can't take risks. It wouldn't look cool if the Sunny had those things out all the time. This is just a super-special rescue system for emergencies!" Franky said enthusiastically, striking a pose while he was at it. "Normally, no-one will even know it's there. See?"

He pulled the lever all the way up, and the left steel arm slid over to join the one on the left, the rescue net folding between them. Then the two arms pulled back and were collapsed into a tight, folded-up set, which in turn easily slid into a slot in the hull. The opening closed, leaving Sunny's side looking just as it usually did.

His audience oohed and aahed and "most splendid!"-ed in a satisfyingly gratifying manner (and why shouldn't they, it wasn't a bad beginning if he did say so himself).

"Yeah, yeah, but like I said, this is just a start," said Franky, scratching his chin and trying to sound modest but unable to stop himself from grinning widely. "I mean, obviously it's no good if it only works when someone's falling over right here, right? No, I'm thinking eight of these things all around the hull, from stem to stern. And they'll be able to reach farther out than this one can right now, when you pull the levers the right way…"

"But would people be able to reach the levers in time?" said Usopp. "Sunny is pretty large, after all…"

"Good point," Franky acknowledged. "I thought of that, and I've already planned out where to put them – accessible and a wide intervals so there'll always be one close by. See?" He held out one of the blueprints which Usopp took and studied carefully. Franky went on, "That's not to say people won't need a bit of instruction in learning how to find them and use them. I figure we'll have drills on the deck for that until people know it by heart. Then this will really be super-effective!" He could just picture it in action, the operator at the levers (him) effortlessly manoeuvring the rescue net exactly where it needed to be to catch a tumbling, desperate crewmate… Now that he thought about it, the idea of crew instruction didn't seem all that appealing. He really wanted the whole thing to be a surprise.

Usopp handed the blueprint back, nodding. "Pretty impressive stuff," he said. "But are you sure it won't just be faster to yell for either Luffy or Robin? Not everyone's too good with machinery."

Franky frowned, though the kid had a point. He shoved a hand through his hair. "Y'know, I figure people who're fine with getting up in the rigging and taking down all the sails in the middle of a storm have no excuse for not learning how to work a lever," he said. "It ain't _that_ complicated."

"All right!" declared Brook suddenly. Franky blinked: the skeleton was balancing on the railing now, waving his swordcane dramatically. "Let me have the honour of being the first to test this out, Mr. Franky! Man overboa~oa~oard!!" he shouted musically, then leapt straight into the air.

Well, that was more like it. Kinda came without warning - but that was good, a real test. "You got it!" yelled Franky, pulling the lever down and to the left straight away. The rescue net shot out from a lower place than before, unfolding just in time for Brook to land on it with a bounce. And then another bounce, and another, and another…

"Whee! This is fun!" laughed Brook, apparently hugely enjoying this – until he gave a small startled cry.

"What's wrong?" said Chopper.

"Ah… Oh dear, I seem to be stuck…" said Brook. Franky blinked and leaned further down on the railing, then swore. Damn, he hadn't accounted properly for Brook's uniquely thin anatomy when making the net. Brook's right leg was poking through one of the holes, and as the skeleton squirmed to get free, he only succeeded in becoming more tangled.

"Hey, stop that!" yelled Franky, as Brook fumbled with his swordcane, as if getting ready to draw and cut himself loose. "That kinda rope is hella expensive, _and_ I went through all kinds of extra trouble making it real tough!"

"Yeah, try to keep calm, Brook!" shouted Usopp. "Wait… we could get Robin! She could reach him and untangle him without cutting anything!"

"_No_!! Don't tell her!" Franky burst out. Usopp looked at him in surprise, eyebrows raised really high. "I mean…" muttered Franky, cheeks suddenly quite hot, "not yet, okay?" He coughed. "I want this to really work before showing anyone else."

Usopp gave him a long look but didn't say anything, just shrugged. Franky cleared his throat and yelled to Brook to try to stay calm and he'd bring the net up real close to the railing without folding it, so that he could help untangle him.

*

Well, Usopp said later when they were all dripping wet, in a way you could say that the whole thing was clearly Sanji's fault.

For if their cook hadn't chosen that particular moment to strike the dinner gong from the galley, Brook might actually have taken Franky's advice and calmed down a bit, instead of being gripped by new panic at the thought of getting too late for dinner. Then he might not have moved around even more frantically, trying to scramble out but just succeeding in tangling himself up even more. He might not have drawn his sword and slashed wildly at the netting. Nor would he have fallen down through the wide cut he'd just made, nor hit his head against an outcropping decoration further down.

"Brook! Hey, Brook, what's wrong with you?! BROOOOK!" Franky, Chopper and Usopp shouted out at their fallen crewmate, who was far too light to actually sink but who certainly wasn't running on the water either. He was lying face down on the surface, not moving at all. This might also not have happened if it hadn't been for Sanji.

And then li'l Reindeer-Bro would not have had a panic attack of unthinking idiotic heroism, crying out "AAAH! I'LL SAVE YOU, BROOK!" and jumping down a split second before realising he'd eaten a Devil Fruit too. And then Usopp and Franky would not have had to jump in and drag both of them out. So they wouldn't all have wounded up late and dripping wet for dinner, which was indeed mostly gone into Luffy's stomach by then. But obviously it was all Sanji's fault. Or so Usopp claimed and Franky wasn't sure if he was trying to make Franky feel better or maybe mocking him a bit.

He sighed a bit over his bowl of vegetable soup, then shrugged as desserts came along.

Ah, well. Back to the drawing board.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

_Well then,_ Franky said to himself a few days later, while treading water below Sunny's figurehead, _let's look at the pros and cons of the situation at hand, okay?_

Pros: He was in the water, if not mere inches from Nico Robin then at least damn close to it, and all the others were still up on the ship. He also had a pretty fine view of Robin from here, though she was wearing no short skirt today, which was kind of a shame – just a sleeveless top and tight black jeans, but that looked pretty sexy too.

The sea was very calm and someone must have seen them fall and anchored the ship temporarily, since it didn't seem to be moving away from them. He supposed those facts counted as pros as well.

Cons: She wasn't actually clinging firmly and gratefully to his well-built, buoyant body, but was hanging from a chain of her own arms sticking out from the side of the ship a few metres above them, her feet about six inches above the crest of the waves. And instead of looking deeply into his eyes or at least smiling at him a tiny bit, she was browsing through a book with an absorbed look. Moreover, if it hadn't been for that book going over the railing at the same time as she did, Franky knew she'd never have fallen this far. She'd focused on forming a big chain and a net to catch the precious thing before she caught herself right above the water, almost as an afterthought. Crazy lady.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said for what must have been the fifth time.

"It's all right," said Nico Robin equably for the fifth time as well, turning a page without the slightest indication of irritation or coldness. "Don't worry."

"It's _not_ all right," he insisted, starting to feel like anger or even contempt would be better than unflappable equanimity. "That was super-lame of me! I knew you were there tending your flower-bed– I should have thought you might have moved a bit and gotten up right behind me, before striking that pose!"

"It was a perfectly natural mistake to make," she said. "You didn't hear me moving. I should have made some noise, or paid more attention to where _you_ were."

"No, you shouldn't!" he protested wildly, splashing about in the water with agitation. "Damnit, I'M the one at fault here, woman! I could at least have looked first! Just 'cause I was so bloody happy at solving a stupid technical problem, I have to go push people overboard!! That's NOT super! Man, there's no help for it – I'm just no damn good this week!"

"Now, don't be like that, I told you I'm fine," said Robin, not looking up from her book.

"_And_ I got you to drop that sack with specially fine soil you use for the flowers, didn't I?" muttered Franky. She'd been holding it when he'd crashed into her, and the whole jute sack and its content of expensive dirt had flown into the water, irretrievably lost.

"There wasn't much left in it anyway," said Robin. "The flowers can do without for a while. Then she look up with a relieved smile, shutting the book close. "It's all right," she said. "The book hasn't been harmed."

_Yeah,_ thought Franky sulkily, _and that's pretty much the only reason you haven't hauled yourself up from here yet, ain't that so, Nico Robin? You just had to see your beloved book was fine first, so you could even put up with my clumsy company._

He realised he was beginning to feel pretty damn sorry for himself. That wasn't super, but damn it, the woman wouldn't even get decently angry with him… "I guess you value that thing a lot," he muttered, half guiltily and half-resentfully.

"Yes, I do," said Robin quietly, tucking the book gently under her arm. "It's a core text on archaeology, and as far as I know, this is the only copy that's still extant in the world. I find it irreplacable."

Franky paled, too shook up by this to even hang his head. And here he'd been ready to whine about her foolish fancies… what if it really had been destroyed? She'd never have forgiven him! How was he supposed to make up for being this stupid?

Robin made a ladder of feet and started to climb up it, but stopped after a few climbs and looked down on the despondent Franky. "But it i_is_/i quite fine," she said. "I'm the one who should have left it in the library to begin with. If something had happened to it, I'd have had no right to complain."

This was too much. Franky wasn't crying at the sheer super nobility of Robin's heart, damnit, he wasn't crying! He wiped his eyes resolutely and as his crewmate mentioned that they might as well get up and get some hot tea into them, he told her she was absolutely 100 % right, climbing up on her ladder of feet behind her.

So he'd screwed up and things hadn't gone as he'd wanted them to. But he'd do better next time! Totally! From now on, Franky would pay a lot more attention, becoming the most aware and mindful crewmate possible, at least around Nico Robin!

Also, next time she might be wearing a skirt.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

The next evening, they came across a pirate crew bent on making trouble, making demands that the Strawhats should give over all their treasure or else prepare to get killed. These bozos weren't all that strong, but they did have three decent-sized battleships and even their own pet seaking, so it took some time to beat them up and drive them away. And they left considerable damage on Sunny: holes that were far too big and far too close to the water, a main hit on the Soldier Docking System, big damage to the helm and surrounding areas, and minor holes and cracks all over the place.

Good thing the enemy had attacked right after dinner rather than before, because there was no way Franky would have had any time to eat. He and Usopp kept working at a fast pace, trying their damnedest to get everything fixed before the next day, when there might be a storm coming according to Nami's weather sense. The rest of the crew pitched in when they could – Chopper was particularly helpful, running off to get new cola for Franky several times during the evening, hardly ever bringing the wrong stuff. (The fizzy lemonade that had filled Franky with a momentary need to repaint the hull with daisies and sunflowers was probably an honest accident.) Eventually everyone drifted off to get some sleep, and some time after midnight Usopp had dropped off where he sat as well, too tired to get up and go to bed.

Franky hardly even noticed, nor did he pay attention to the night cold or the quiet darkness around him. There was a lantern above him, giving him light enough to work with, which was all he cared about at the moment. Most of the ship was all right by now, including the Soldier Docking System, only the helm remaining among the most urgent damage. Now Franky sat almost fully immersed into a big hole , cleaning out shrapnel and repairing the steering mechanism and the connections to the Docking system. Usopp had repaired most of the boards around here – carpentry would probably never really be his thing, thought Franky absently, but the kid was still getting better at it all the time - but he'd left the crater alone to give Franky working space, moving on to the railing and then falling asleep right below the figurehead.

As Franky worked, he kept coming up with new ways he could strengthen that part or rearrange that part for a more satisfying and stronger structure. This was part of why he liked doing repair work a lot, too, not just new constructions from the start – new ideas just came pouring out as he was deep into the mess of things, trying to fix them. He was aware there was a lurking fatigue in his mind and body but kept them at bay, too busy and absorbed to be able to succumb to it now.

There were soft footsteps up the steps to the deck, and a light approaching. It was Robin with an extra lantern. She stopped to cover up the sleeping Usopp with a blanket. Then she held out another blanket to Franky, but he shook his head – "not yet, maybe later" – though he did take the mug of hot coffee that she offered. After drinking deeply, he put it down on the floor and kept working.

Instead of choosing the seat in front of the helm, which was already repaired, Robin sat down directly on deck, leaning against the mini-railing around the seat. She poured herself a cup of coffee as well, looking out to sea while Franky worked. They were quiet for a good while. It was still all dark around their two tiny points of light, but Franky thought he could discern the eastern sky ever so faintly growing lighter.

"If I fell into the water, one day," Robin said slowly, "what would you do?"

Franky blinked. So he hadn't been quite as secretive as he'd wished. Well, nothing new about that, especially not around this woman. He glanced over at her. She was challenging him, he thought, maybe mocking him, even – but she wasn't smiling. Her eyes mostly just seemed thoughtful, though possibly with a faint, dreamy, late-night blankness to them.

Then he grinned at her, as he climbed out of the hole and moving on to the helm itself, which shouldn't take too long to fix. "You? I'd guess you either wasn't feeling right, like coming down with something, or else that you was playing some kind of game with me. No way you'd let something like that happen otherwise." He scratched his head with the wrench he was holding, then winked at her. "So I s'pose first I'd dive down and get you out of there, and then I'd either send you off to Reindeer-Bro or figure out what kinda game you're playing, and if I wanna join."

Robin shrugged matter-of-factly. "Well, maybe I'd just be careless," she said, taking another sip from her coffee. "Who knows?"

Franky raised a speculative eyebrow at her. "Weeeelll…" he remarked, "the only time I've seen you anywhere close to that kind of danger was when you jumped into it yourself, back at Enies Lobby when we were all surrounded. "Not that I was worried."

"Nor was I," said Robin, "though I'd never done anything like that before. But I trusted a mysterious voice in my mind and the words of my crewmates." She nodded towards Usopp, who was lying under the blanket close by and snoring quite vigorously.

"Yeah," said Franky, feeling subdued as he finished replacing broken wood with new. "Merry came through for all of you then. Well, for me too, I guess."

There was another pause after that, fraught with melancholy. Franky was done with the helm and the lever. He gave the helm an experimental turn and pulled the level, and while he couldn't see the Soldier Docking from here ( more illumination at night! he needed to work on that!), the ship had shifted slightly and things had clicked and rumbled in a thoroughly reassuring way. He turned the ship back and covered up the hole with new boards. It took him a few minutes as he was getting tired.

He tried, but couldn't think of anything else on the ship that needed urgent repair tonight, rather than later. He took his mug of coffee and got up, then stood there uncertainly for a few seconds. Robin peered up at him, a mild question in her eyes.

Then they both started talking at once.

"I'm not –"

"I think –"

Both stopped themselves, looking at one another.

"Uh, go on," he said.

She shook her head. "No, you first."

Franky sighed and sat down next to her by the mini-railing, taking one more sip from the now lukewarm, but still tasty coffee. "Well, I was gonna say, I'm not sure if I'd even be able to get there, to the spot in the water where you'd be. If you fell in, that is. 'Cause it would be way too crowded, I mean." Franky grinned at her again, only slightly ruefully. "And don't think I'm just talking 'bout Eyebrow-Bro, either," he said. "Nah, I figure the whole damn crew would probably be there – hell, I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up saving li'l Reindeer-Bro instead of you."

Robin cupped her hands around her cup of coffee, drinking deeply. "I know they'd all be there for me if I needed them," she murmured, then looked up at him and smiled, just a bit. Not in her ordinary knowing way, but a more unusual, trusting type of smile that made Franky feel _really_ funny. "But you know," she said quietly, "I wouldn't mind knowing that Sunny would be there for me too, catching me if I ever did fall."

Franky found himself unable get rid of the silly answering grin that lay plastered on his face. Still , he did his best to stay cool and not look away from her, answering her look with a challenge of his own. He stretched in a lazy pose. Sleep was starting to pull at him more insistently now. "Yeah? Well, you know what I think of that, Nico Robin?"

She chuckled, putting her coffee cup down on the floor, then inched closer and leaned against him, all comfortable in her leather jacket. She pulled the blanket over them both. "I know," she mumbled, closing her eyes. "It's super."

"'Course it is," he mumbled back, putting one arm around her and leaning back against the steady reliable wood of their ship. "_Really_ super. And one day I'll show you."

She was laughing lightly, making the hairs on his chest stand up, as the wind shifted, the night air starting to smell of morning. Far away to the east there was a tiny glow of red over the horizon.

_May you stay with these guys and this ship forever and ever and always,_ he thought. '_Cause that's what I wanna do, too._ He knew he could trust her strength and tenacity – she was one of the strongest people he'd ever met – but he couldn't help but sometimes be a little worried, even so. Even the strongest and the best people could be taken from you.

But it was okay to worry at times. He held her tightly but not too tightly, just squeezing her shoulder once, lightly. At first he thought she'd already fallen asleep, but then there came an answering squeeze on his own shoulder.

He felt her warm breath on his neck. Nah, she really didn't seem to be letting go either. Looked like he was truly stuck with this demon lady, then.

There might be a storm coming soon enough. But for now all was clear and calm, and it was okay just to relax for a while, leaning his own head down on hers, the scent of her hair mixing with the smell of grease and gunpowder and the morning wind.


End file.
